Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
04/03/2017 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB88 | |
| SB65 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 88 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 65 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 88-AK MENTAL HEALTH TRUST LAND EXCHANGE
3:31:18 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced consideration of SB 88, which was first
heard on March 22. The bill is a proposed land exchange for the
Mental Health Trust Land Authority (AMHTA). She opened public
testimony.
REBECCA KNIGHT, representing herself, Petersburg, Alaska,
opposed SB 88 on a variety of grounds and believed that a
federal buyout of AMHTA's proposed land exchange was a far
better alternative.
SENATOR HUGHES joined the committee.
MS. KNIGHT asked the committee to change the action to a federal
buyout with the lands to be added to the Tongass National Forest
and the proceeds going into the trust. While the Petersburg
Borough Assembly formerly supported the buyout option if the
federal legislation failed to pass Congress by January 15, 2017,
Ms. Knight said this option would satisfy the trust's mission to
improve the lives of beneficiaries as well as mitigate impacts
to Petersburg and Ketchikan area land owners while also avoiding
long-term and massive landscape-level impacts elsewhere if
exchange legislation is enacted.
As presently conceived, the bills in the legislature and
Congress would allow continuous clear cuts on several thousand
acres on already heavily-logged Rosella and Prince of Wales
(POW) Islands. For instance, a total 19 square-mile clear cut
will result on Rosella Island when combined with the trust's
nearly 4,000-acre existing clear cut and the proposed and
directly adjacent 8,000-acre exchange parcel. This existing and
proposed scale of logging is in the direct flight path of
thousands of Ketchikan flight-seeing visitors each summer.
A federal buy-out is a reasonable solution, because Congress
created the AMHTA and endowed it with land to support itself,
and this would result in no environmental harm. If SB 88 passes,
AMHTA could finalize the action much sooner and cost the trust
only about half the $6-million exchange cost for survey and
appraisals since only about half the lands would be involved.
Finally, AMTHA's land could be purchased for a few tens of
millions of dollars at fair market value, which is a sliver of
the amount saved from the public purse for mental health
services since its inception 61 years ago.
3:34:44 PM
CHARLES WOOD, Mitkof Highway Homeowners Association (MHHA),
Petersburg, Alaska, supported SB 88. He said the MHHA is a group
of 95 Petersburg homeowners living below and commuting along
State Highway 7, the Mitkof Highway, which lies at the foot of
the trust's demonstrably steep, unstable hillside parcels. The
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) using orthophotographic mapping has
designated the soils across most of the trust parcels as
landslide hazard soils and a majority of the parcels exceed
Forest Service standards pertaining to logging. The Mitkof
Highway corridor below the trust parcels have been analyzed and
mapped by the Division of Forestry and the Landslide Science and
Technical Committee as a landslide hazard zone.
MR. WOOD said the State Division of Forestry has no criteria in
its best management practices specific to logging steep,
unstable slopes within inhabited landslide hazard areas. Yet, if
the trust were to ever log these slopes, it would do so under
the guidance of Alaska's Forest Resources and Practices Act.
He said the focus of the MHHA over the past 11 years has been
entirely on public safety; never once has viewshed or community
backdrop, local recreational opportunities, wildlife corridors,
or tourism been considered, though each of the issues presents
reasonable arguments in favor of the land exchange. Nor has
commentary been offered on the trust lands next to other
communities or the Forest Service lands involved with the
exchange.
Logging the slopes above their homes runs the risk of
accelerated landslide activity, Mr. Wood said. His group
believes that the Division of Forestry's best management
practices guidelines provide insufficient safeguards to protect
their homes and property from unwise timber harvest. Conversely,
he expects that management of the hillside by the USFS will
entail other criteria, which will ensure that public safety will
not be impacted by logging.
DAVID LANDIS, Mayor, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Ketchikan,
Alaska, supported SB 88. He said the borough has repeatedly and
consistently supported the land exchange referenced in SB 88. It
is a win/win/win proposition for Ketchikan. It is a win for
their timber industry, because it is economically important to
provide a consistent supply of timber for those jobs that are
directly involved in the industry in Southeast and the many
private businesses who are vendors to it.
This is also a win for the citizens of Ketchikan and the over
one-million tourists who will visit Ketchikan this year, because
the trust lands to be exchanged are directly behind Ketchikan on
Deer Mountain and on Gravina Island above the airport. These are
major view sheds and the Deer Mountain parcel also has a very
popular trail used by locals and visitors. There is virtually no
support in Ketchikan to log these areas; the swap would protect
these lands and provide other lands more practical for timber
sales.
In addition, this is a win for the Mental Health Trust
Authority, because like all communities in Alaska, Ketchikan has
citizens who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, and
other disorders, and the AMHTA needs revenue to fund their
efforts; this land exchange will provide that revenue.
In closing, Mr. Landis said, this exchange is as close as you
can get to a "win" for everyone involved.
3:38:50 PM
LARRY EDWARDS, representing himself, Sitka, Alaska, opposed SB
88 and wanted it amended to a federal buy-out of the trust's
problematic parcels. This would result in a "triple win" of
needed funds for the trust, the end of logging threats in five
communities and No Name Bay, and avoidance of high impacts on
new trust lands. Amending the bill would also direct the
delegation to amend its bills in Congress. The committee lacks
information to get a hard look at impacts in vicinities where
the trust would get new land. Trust and Division of Forestry
testimony looked only at supposed benefits during these impacts.
ADF&G's Wildlife and Habitat Divisions were not invited to
testify even though the trust would get 33 square miles of
forest for logging in large blocks on two islands that would
have high landscape-scale cumulative impacts. Their testimony is
needed.
MR. EDWARDS asked them to review comments from the Greater
Southeast Alaska Conservation Community on why cumulative
impacts of the land exchange are a very significant issue. They
underscore why a hard look by the state is imperative. He said
the Alaska Constitution obligates state government to ensure
that resource development is sustainable and in the public
interest. The Alaska Supreme Court said this means a hard look
at salient problems, genuinely engaging in reasonable decision-
making, and considering all relevant factors including
cumulative impacts. But, under the Forest Practices Act there is
no state hard-look at landscape-scale impacts. So, the
constitutional hard look obligation for the proposed land
exchange falls squarely upon the legislature, and this
committee. A buyout option, besides being the best option,
avoids the constitutional problem. The state can't afford to do
a buy-out, but the federal government can.
3:41:22 PM
DENNIS WATSON, Mayor, City of Craig, Alaska, supported SB 88. He
said he is also the general manager of the Inter-Island Ferry
Authority. He said what usually gets lost in the rhetoric is
that this bill will help pave the way to a more sustainable
revenue stream for the AMHTA that funds programs for the most
vulnerable Alaskans. This bill and the timber supply it will
facilitate for the Prince of Wales (POW) Island and the City of
Craig will keep the island's timber industry and its economy
going while efforts to lift restrictions on federal timber sale
areas are allowed to bear fruit. This timber supply will also
keep their largest sawmill, the Viking Lumber, in operation. It
provides a year-round payroll and many direct and indirect jobs
to Prince of Wales residents.
He said the wood wanes from the mill provide energy in the form
of heat for the Craig elementary and middle schools and the
municipal swimming pool. The wood waste is also compressed into
bio-bricks, further increasing the percentage of total
utilization of each tree processed. In the end, the logging
roads built by the mill will allow "Mom and Pop" mill operators
to access smaller timber sales and salvage timber for their
lumber cutting operations and to provide high quality product
for the music wood industry. These roads will also allow island
residents access to firewood, hunting, berry picking, and other
subsistence and recreational activities.
MR. WATSON said the Viking Mill is the island's largest consumer
on the Prince of Wales Island electrical grid. Ceasing its
operation would translate into much larger electric bills for
island ratepayers.
OWEN GRAHAM, lobbyist, Alaska Forest Association, Ketchikan,
Alaska, supported SB 88. The lands that AMHTA would receive in
this exchange are areas that have had some logging in the past;
the road systems are already in and they are not adjacent to any
big communities. These are areas that were planned for logging
by the Forest Service in the long term without any harm to any
fish and wildlife. It is a win for everybody.
MR. GRAHAM said the last federal administration couldn't provide
enough timber for the last surviving mill that will be out of
wood in less than one year, and the Forest Service says it will
be at least three before they can provide additional timber to
it. So, the exchange really needs to go forward.
He said several people testified that they would like to see the
federal government purchase the AMHTA land and he opposes that
idea, because the federal government already owns and manages
close to 95 percent of the land in the region, most of which is
kept idle. If they purchase the land it won't benefit anybody,
and the community will lose 100 jobs.
3:46:10 PM
BRYCE DAHLSTROM, Vice President, Transportation and Raw
Materials, Viking Lumber, Klawock, Alaska, supported SB 88. He
said lack of federal timber has caused many saw mills to shut
down and the loss of thousands of full-time skilled jobs over
the last 30 years. SB 88 will provide the much-needed timber to
keep the existing industry alive in the short term. It will also
provide a stable supply into the future. Exchange of lands held
by the trust now will protect the backdrops of several Southeast
cities and give the trust the ability to manage the lands they
receive.
MR. DAHLSTROM said Viking Lumber directly employs 40 people on
POW Island where they are 60 percent of the revenue for Alaska
Power and Telephone. Up to 250 jobs could be lost if they run
out of timber. SB 88 will allow Viking to keep all these hard-
working Alaskans with full-time employment. The unemployment
rate on POW is 13.8 percent, almost double that of Southeast.
The island cannot stand to have any existing business disappear.
He said they need to be looking at ways to grow sustainable
economies in Southeast, which is what SB 88 will do.
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony, and announced that Andrew Naylor Department of Law on
was line for questions. She also remarked that the bill requires
some technical changes that would put them in alignment with
Congressional legislation and invited Mr. Menefee to tell them
about the changes.
3:48:24 PM
WYN MENEFEE, Deputy Director, Land Office, Alaska Mental Health
Trust Authority (AMHTA), Department of Natural Resources (DNR),
supported SB 88. He explained that the U.S. Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee removed a 54-acre island from No
Name Bay in the exchange. In the revision the No Name Bay map
got a different date. So that there is no confusion and to stay
in sync with the federal bill, the map in the state legislature
would also have to be revised with a new date.
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no questions, said they were working on a
committee (CS) that would be available by tomorrow.
SENATOR MEYER said language on page 2, line 14, said the AMHTA
shall pay all costs of the exchange and asked Mr. Menefee what
that would be.
3:50:52 PM
SENATOR VON IMHOF joined the meeting.
MR. MENEFEE replied that the biggest cost will be from the
survey and appraisal and from reimbursing the Forest Service
employees who are doing the follow up title work. He expected
the survey and appraisals would cost about $3 million instead of
initially anticipated $6 million, because the legislation
doesn't require a NEPA analysis. The bill takes away the
discretion of the Forest Service by saying "they shall
exchange," leaving no alternatives to consider.
SENATOR MEYER asked what was meant by "karst" on page 3, line 7.
MR. MENEFEE answered that "karst" is a form of limestone
formation. The concern was specifically in the Phase 1 area of
Nakabi that has underground anadromous fish streams through
which fish migrate to get to the next water body. This area is
called out specifically, because the Alaska Forest Practices Act
typically deals with surface water and requires a buffer next to
anadromous fish streams to protect them from logging.
SENATOR MEYER said language on page 3, line 8, says the
Department of Natural Resources may enter into a cost-share
agreement to cover the cost of road maintenance with respect to
any reciprocal road easements in the exchange, and asked if that
is something DNR typically does.
MR. MENEFEE said this is something that is normally done by the
department. The issue is if the state is going to use an
easement that is owned by somebody else and make money off it
by, for instance, having a timber operation and logging trucks
running down the road, it's hard to expect that owner to carry
the increased maintenance of that road. So, cost-sharing
agreements are common for substantial impacts an easement.
CHAIR GIESSEL found no further questions and held SB 88 in
committee.